Seal for containers and method of producing the same



0. l. WARING Jqly 10, 1934.

SEAL FOR CONTAINERS AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Original Filed June 15, 1929 Patented July 10, 1934 SEAL FOB CONTAINERS AND DIETHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Olaf I. Waring, Flushing, N. Y-, assignor to Ferdinand Gutmann & 00., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application June 13, 1929, Serial No. 370,722. Divided and this application June 8, 1931, Serial No. 542,913

2 Claims. (CL 228-80) My invention relates to methods for sealing bottles, jars and other containers and consists essentially in placing a piece of inert sealing substance, that is one which is not affected by the 6 container contents in such a way as to impair or destroy the seal, into a cap and uniting it to the top surface of a container outlet by means of an inert adhesive, that is one which is not affected by the container contents in such a 10 way as to impair or destroy the seal, said application of the inert sealing substance to the container taking place during the act of affixing the closure to the container. The piece of inert substance united to the top surface of the con tainer outlet forms in itself a seal. The piece of inert substance is preferably rupturable so that it must be punched or broken through to get access to the container contents. I prefer to use a transparent substance so that the contents of the container may be seen through it and it will present a more pleasing appearance both before and after it has been ruptured.

Where possible I prefer to use a homogeneous sealing substance in order to prevent the sealing substance from being affected by the contents of the container after rupture at the exposed edges.

This application is a division of my pending application Ser. No. 370,722, filed June 13, 1929.

so In the drawing Fig. 1 is an exaggerated view of my seal on the top surface of a container outlet; Fig. 2 a face view of a piece of inert sealing substance with adhesive thereon; Fig. 3 a sectional view of a cap or closure with a piece 85 of inert sealing substance therein and with a sealing gasket above it in the cap; and the container with interposed adhesive ready to receive the seal; Fig. 4 a sectional view of a container with the seal and cap thereon; and Fig. 5 a perspective view of a container with the seal thereon.

It is well known that where containers are sealed with a reseal cap, that is one which is removable and replaceable, the contents of the container may be tampered with and that the seal sometimes leaks, especially where the contents are of an oily nature.

By the use of my sealing substance the package is sealed until the ultimate consumer removes the protective cap and punctures, cuts or removes the sealing substance and thus obtains access to the contents.

The protective cap may then be used as a reseal until the contents are consumed. It is also possible to permanently unite my sealing substance to the top surface of the container outlet so that it must be punctured or destroyed before access is obtained to the contents thus providing a tamper proof seal. It should be noted that the protective cap is not necessary to the maintenance of the seal, my sealing substance being capable of maintaining the seal unaided by the outside cap.

The application of the adhesive which unites the inert sealing substance to the top surface of the container outlet may be done in several 05- ways. It may be applied to the top surface of the container outlet and then the cap, with the sealing substance therein, but not permanently united thereto, immediately placed on the container whereupon the inert sealing substance will unite with the top surface of the container outlet and remain a part thereof when the protective cap is removed. It should be noted that if the adhesive is properly chosen no pressure is required of the cap other than bringing the 15 sealing substance and the top surface of the container outlet positively into contact with each other.

In a cap, such as a screw cap with the inert sealing substance therein, is applied with a tum- 9 ing or twisting motion, after the adhesive has been applied to the top surface of the container outlet, the adhesive will be more perfectly and uniformly distributed over the top surface of the container outlet than would otherwise be the a;

case.

In the case of oils, to give an illustration, the sealing substance might be a cellulose material in the form of a thin film and the adhesive 2. strong oil insoluble glue, such as one having a go gelatine base. I do not limit myself to any specific material for the inert sealing substance or to any specific adhesive, as they must be selected according to the nature of the contents of the container.

One way of commercially practicing my method is to take a cap 1, preferably of the reseal type, with a rescaling gasket 2 therein and place a piece of inert sealing substance 3 therein. The inert sealing substance will necessarily be slight- 10o ly larger in diameter than the container top so that it will frictionally engage the cap and remain therein while being handled in the capping machine. In most cases the inert sealing substance is a thin disk. The adhesive is applied 05 in any suitable manner to the top surface of the container outlet and the cap and sealing substance are then applied to the container, after which the adhesive sets, uniting the sealing substance and the top surface of the container outno let so that a seal is formed. This results in a seal which projects slightly all around the container top as shown in Fig. 5 and enables the user to peel the seal 011 more easily in opening the container. In the case of watery liquids a water insoluble substance and an adhesive which is impervious to water is used.

It is also possible to apply the adhesive directly to the inert sealing substance 3 to make a seal.

As shown in Fig. 4 when the inert sealing substance 3 is secured to the top surface of the container outlet by means of the inert adhesive the resilient gasket 2 is squeezed against the inert sealing substance 3 and the top surface of the container outlet by the metal can 1. This produces a double seal, one by the adhering inert sealing substance and the other by the compression of the sealing gasket 2 in the usual manner.

The seal may be used as a vacuum seal in cold packing by mechanically produced vacuum, as a vacuum seal in hot packing and as a seal when the product is pasteurized or sterilized.

My invention therefore resides in a method of sealing which contemplates the placing of an inert sealing substance in a cap, inter-posing an inert adhesive between the sealing substance and the top surface of the container outlet and then applying the cap and sealing substance to the container whereby the sealing substance is united to the top surface of the container outlet when the adhesive has set and in which the seal so formed is created by the cap and maintained after the cap has been removed.

By the term inert sealing substance in the claims I mean a substance which is not affected by the container contents in such a way as to impair or destroy the seal, and by the term inert adhesive I mean an adhesive which is not affected by the container contents in such a way as to impair or destroy the seal.

I claim:-

1. The herein described method of sealing containers having exterior screw threads about the necks thereof consisting in applying an inert adhesive upon the top of the mouth of a container, bringing a sheet of rupturable, flexible inert material in contact with said adhesive, while within a cap having a screw threaded skirt, imparting rotary movement to the sheet during the initial contact thereof with the adhesive by turning movement of said cap, subjecting the sheet, throughout its area of contact with the adhesive, to a progressively increasing continuing pressure, and maintaining said pressure until the adhesive has set whereby a continuous permanent liquid and gas tightjointis formed between the sheet and the container.

2. The herein described method of sealing containers having exterior screw threads about the necks thereof consisting in applying an inert adhesive upon the top of the mouth of a container, bringing a sheet of rupturable, flexible inert material in contact with said adhesive, while within a cap having a screw threaded skirt, imparting rotary movement to the sheet during the initial contact thereof with the adhesive by turning movement of said cap, subjecting the sheet, throughout its area of contact with the adhesive, to a progressively increasing continuing pressure, by a compressible body within said cap and maintaining said body under compression and in contact with said sheet until the adhesive has set whereby a continuous permanent liquid and gas tight joint is formed between the sheet and the container.

OLAF I. WARING. 

